cafebabel.com

Croatia EU vote: Swiss, Italian, Slovenian, Czech media react

('euro topics',) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:13:56 -0000

A clear majority of Croatians voted in favour of EU accession in a referendum on 22 January. However, if they want to join the EU it's above all for economic reasons, European commentators write and prophesy that the EU's eastern enlargement is over for the time being

Britain-Europe: confessions of an angry Lib Dem

('dominicmaciver',) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:42:58 -0000

Type 'What Defines an English Person' into google right now and see the top result - this is how unpopular we are with the rest of the world, especially after the UK chose not to join a new EU treaty governing the finance system. Europe has divided a two-headed monster, 'Clammeron', in half: the government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg since 2010 has been spliced together by iron threads of political contingency

Belgian, Polish, Spanish and German media on last EU summit of 2011

('euro topics',) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:40:36 -0000

At the EU summit that kicks off on 8 December in Brussels a number of countries are unwilling to go along with proposals by Germany and France to amend the EU treaties as a means of controlling the debt crisis. The German government refuses to make concessions. Disunited Europe must succeed even though it seems doomed to run aground, the press write

Eurozone summit: perspectives on economic crisis

('Brussels Blogger',) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:05:03 -0000

We have heard these words so often that they have lost all meaning: global crisis, market failure, bank recapitalisation. Tonight once again, European governments will be searching for a way to minimise the crisis. Yet even if grounded in good faith, these decisions could simply stimulate current problems and protests

Brussels: Spanish expat on depression taboo

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:47:07 -0000

Brussels is home to over 25, 000 employees of the European institutions, some of whom are reputed to suffer from stress and drink addictions. One employee confirms the myth

'Real democracy NOW!': #spanishrevolution becomes #europeanrevolution

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:15:00 -0000

Spain’s so-called 15-M has become 29-M, referring to the dates of the sit-in protests of a Spain in May which saw local elections swinging to the favour of the opposition conservatives. The rage is sweeping Italy, Belgium and France

European hip hop between Brussels, Amsterdam, Hanover and London

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:00:00 -0000

The opening of the 2011 Lezarts urban dance festival at Brussels’ centre of fine arts (Bozar) in mid-February was more relaxed and accessible than usual. We meet choreographers, b-boys and the folks at the European laboratory of hip hop dance

cafebabel.com blogs: Brussels base for European geek girls

('Brussels Blogger',) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:12:26 -0000

They are lobbyists, consultants, functionaires, geeks of every age and industry who work in the European bubble. They buzz around the same bubble but never meet. When they do, the meeting is not an occasion for small talk, but for networking

Belgium crisis: world record if government not formed by 30 March

('Kath Davey',) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:45:00 -0000

Belgium is set to steal this title from the current record holder, Iraq, on 30 March - and what a record to beat! It’s an achievement that the country could very well do without, all the more so since politicians from the southern region of Wallonia and their northern counterparts from Flanders do not fall short when it comes to achieving bizarre records

Italian women for and against accused Silvio Berlusconi

('lebuffle',) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:20:00 -0000

Whilst the satirical search engine 'Bungle Bungle' publishes videos of a million women protesters supporting the dignity of the female sex, Silvio's supporters protest in front of the law courts, where the Italian prime minister is due to show on 6 April, accused of the exploitation and prostitution of minors

Franco-German 'competitiveness pact' spanner in Europe's works

('Carol Howard',) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:43:29 -0000

The revival of the German-French axis after the numerous discords of recent years should be greeted with pleasure. Yet in the Merkel-Sarkozy era there is not much left of what was once the ‘driving force for European integration’. A Franco-German ‘competitiveness pact’ suggests a lost sense of solidarity and a deep distrust of EU institutions

Frank Pe, Luc Schuiten: eco-dreams of Brussels' comic book art architecture

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:15:00 -0000

Not everyone knows it but another Brussels does exist which is more green, more romantic, more human. It's the one which burgeons in the imagination and designs of those who have learned to love Brussels as it is, with its contradictions, its unbridled path of illogical construction and 'forced' cohabitation between the two souls of Europe, one Latin, the other Germanic. A comic book artist, visionary architect and artist-editor explain how they dream of a different Brussels.

Global entrepreneurs at Brussels green summit

('Alexandra Belopolsky',) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:14:02 -0000

Three years ago the Greek-Dane Nike Kondakis found a used parachute lying on the ground and decided it would make great material for a dress. Now, at the age of 28, she is the owner of her own small fashion company making used-parachute couture and dead-wood jewellery in Kenya

Being green in Brussels: beyond plastic bags

('Ja\xc5\xa1a Pipan',) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:32:42 -0000

If you live in Brussels, some people will shout at you if you put a blue bag in the street on a white bag day. Coming to a supermarket carrying a plastic bag can earn you some nasty looks too. From the EU capital we chat to two young people working in environmental roles

Environmentalism on wheels: car vs bikes in Brussels

('James Friscia',) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:00:00 -0000

The hectic, grey and formal Brussels doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to reinvent itself as a sustainable city. One of the keys to success is changing its concept of transport: how to limit the prevalence of cars whilst fostering public bicycle use? Behold the battle for decongesting the European capital

Brussels: 'There are many more scientologists than we think'

('Daniel G. Ross',) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:20:11 -0000

Last January, the Churches of Scientology for Europe opened a new branch on boulevard Waterloo in Brussels. Considered a cult or simply a commercial organization in France, Belgium and Germany, scientology continues to claim to be a religion. A interview with Agnès Bron, in charge of public relations at the boulevard Waterloo site.

Job hunting in Brussels: serenity of the hopeless

('gem',) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:40:49 -0000

Anna is a German university student who has just turned twenty and is looking for a job in the European capital. She ould like to remain anonymous – but her story is representative of an entire generation of young Europeans

One year on - what's the Lisbon treaty again?

('Melanie',) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:37:23 -0000

Yes, you, Europe voted this constitutional document in and it came into effect on 1 December 2009. It's more institutions and regulations which doesn't really help to understand the burden of the EU and its thousand of details, so here's one option of an instant mini guide

Three muslims in Brussels: (almost) ordinary citizens

('Nettah',) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:15:00 -0000

Being Belgian and muslim poses no particular problem for Omar, Younes and Mourad. They don't wear the burqa, which is banned in Belgium, yet are often turned away from bars. In the EU capital, tolerance and rejection go hand-in-hand

Fashion crisis: buying second hand clothes in Brussels

('Peter Robbins',) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:22:38 -0000

In November, French designer Lanvin releases its new collection for Swedish budget brand H&M – but the haute couture forces beyond once claimed they’d never go mass-market. The people of Brussels' flea markets advise on how citizens are dipping into alternative clothes-buying forums

What to do in Brussels when you're young, gifted and insanely connected

('Rose Kelleher',) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:37:10 -0000

You exhibit in unusual places and crank up the electronic music - just ask the boys and girls from Plastic. Snippet from the Brussels cafebabel.com blog

Expats dating abroad? That's Brussels for you

('Claire Davenport',) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:06:48 -0000

Why in Brussels do my friends of every nationality land themselves in the most bizarrely complicated relationships? Do all men here just want sex? One woman on why fellow expats can't do steady relationships

Emilie Turunen on unpaid interns: ‘we risk losing our generation’

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:34:42 -0000

In her soon-to-be-adopted youth unemployment rapport, the 26-year-old Dane has surely rewritten the tune of an infernal chorus. At 26, who better than the youngest member of the current European parliament to discuss a disenchanted population?

France's 'war on criminality' aside, focus on Parisian Roma in 'social insertion villages'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:19:08 -0000

Four years after their creation in Europe, 'social integration villages' are being presented as a 'Roma paradise'. European associations for minority protection expose some of the difficulties facing the most discriminated community in the EU. Meanwhile, the French government has since planned to dissolve 300 Roma settlements, whilst the UK is seeing its biggest Romany gypsy site, Dale Farm in Essex, bulldozed

Racism and discrimination for Brussels migrant workers

('Monica Mircescu',) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 -0000

In the region of Brussels-Capital, discrimination in recruitment practices is a daily reality. At a time of economic stagnation, ethnic diversity is no longer a priority for businesses, which in turn makes integration in Belgium harder still

Ghinzu: bad boys of Belgian rock

('Hayley',) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 -0000

'The more it cuts, the sharper it gets. Ghinzu ? Already counting three 'rock-noise' albums to their name, completely carried away when live and relaxed in interviews, the slogan for the knife is as far as possible from describing how these five partners-in-crime attack the European stage. Interview with John Stargasm and Jean Montevideo, sharper than ever

'Bart de Wever's willingness to nominate Elio Di Rupo for Belgian PM seems a trap'

('Jude Lister',) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:15:00 -0000

Vincent Laborderie, a researcher at the Catholic University of Leuven (UCL), bakes some humble pie for the alarmists with his portrait of post-crisis Belgium

Belgium elections: rise of radical Flemish nationalist party, N-VA

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:51:47 -0000

13 June 2010 marks just under twenty years since Belgians went to the polls for an early election. Belgians have voted six times in the last seven years: surrealism? Maybe. The last years resemble one long-winded election campaign, during which not one party made the smallest concession

Herman Van Rompuy: One Hundred Days

('Andrew Burgess',) — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:45:00 -0000

It’s been 100 days that Herman Van Rompuy has embodied the European Union, which is currently stuck between a slow economic recovery and the stormy negotiations over the financial aid for struggling Greece. Before an audience of members of the Belgian European movement, the country’s former prime minister recalls his daily duties in a role that is very much ‘work in progress’

Alexander De Who? The man who brought down the Belgian government

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:34:38 -0000

The leader of the Flemish liberal Open VLD party's sudden exit from the coalition government on 22 April 2010 led to the current Belgian crisis; the country still has no government. Portrait of Alexander De Croo on the Brussels babelblog

Perspective: what has the EU done for LGBT rights?

('AMR',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:45:00 -0000

The international day against homophobia and transphobia is celebrated on 17 May in over fifty countries around the world, and as the Baltic Pride parade in Lithuania on 8 May showed, people are taking action in even the most homophobic places

Catherine Ashton, Ashford or Ashley?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Never mind that she went to earthquake-stricken Haiti six weeks late, or that she missed a ministerial conference, or that she's not David Miliband, or that she can't speak French. Let's begin with the fact that some struggle to remember even the name of the first ever EU foreign policy chief. Maybe it's the title 'baroness' which throws everyone

French, Spanish, Czech and British youth on euroscepticism

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:12:36 -0000

Unpaid interns, taxes, recycling, the parliament in Strasbourg...you name it, our contributors from across the cafebabel.com network have something to say about what irks them most about Europe. 9 May marks sixty years since the Schuman declaration was signed, when it was agreed that France, Germany and others would work together as a federation

Belgian band Absynthe Minded: 'we’re not playboys'

('Alison Frank',) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:45:00 -0000

Since 2002, the acclaimed jazz rockers from Ghent have flirted with an indescribable style. As the Belgian five's tour stops in Paris to celebrate their fourth disc in eight years, we meet to talk about their passion for quality music, platinum albums and the women in their lives

Europarl TV: 'technology is more fast-paced than the institutions'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:15:00 -0000

In September 2008, the TV channel started streaming parliamentary sessions and news features on MEPs and their speeches on the European parliament’s webpage. The challenge is to give the institutions a human face - press service chief Jean-Yves Loog tells us how

Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Schaarbeek: spot the crime in Brussels

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:21:47 -0000

Petty crime and unemployment rates (17.6%) are high in inner city Brussels, which registers a low violent crime rate in Europe. Nevertheless, police arrested 12 Belgian Albanians linked to a crime gang on 15 February*, whilst certain districts remain dangerous. Is this down to the crisis?

Brussels: young, gifted and going nowhere fast

('Nicola Potter',) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:00 -0000

They’re over-qualified, multilingual and come from every corner of the European Union. They moved to the Belgian capital to find an internship or job. A short report from the heart of this bustling microcosm

'Les Petits Riens': social enterprise in Brussels

('Sarah Pybus',) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:22:01 -0000

In times of crisis, is it time to go second hand? In Brussels, the shop run by 'The Little Nothings' organisation is just the ticket. As well as offering cheap furniture, books and household appliances, it gives the homeless another chance

Gaëtan Tarantino: ‘graffiti artists are normal people, not hooligans’

('Alison Frank',) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:00:00 -0000

He escaped prison and fines, sleeps and breathes graffiti and his NGO holds Brussels’ annual graffiti event: how the 32-year-old from Marseille, who once worked in air-conditioning, cheers up gloomy Belgian neighbourhoods with art that emerges from concrete

Europe's 'unword' of 2009

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:45:55 -0000

'An anti-Tony Blair, please': European press reacts prior to EU president election

('euro topics',) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:46:03 -0000

EU heads of state and government meet today in Brussels to appoint the president of the European council and the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy. Despite months of negotiation, agreement has not been reached on who should hold the posts. The Italian, Spanish, British and French press react

Lisbon treaty: Irish expats lose their vote abroad

('Angela Steen',) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:14:05 -0000

The only Irish citizens who are able to vote abroad are diplomats or army personnel. For others, it’s a question of finding the time, money or strength to take a Ryanair flight back home for the second referendum on 2 October, which almost all 27 EU members have ratified

Music duo Kim Ki O: ‘the danger of being Turkish’ for Europe

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:45:00 -0000

The Swedish pop elite love them, but EU bureaucracy is preventing Ekin Sanac and Berna Göl from breaking Europe. In Istanbul, music is an unstable bridge between east and west. Part two of a special feature

One day at the European parliament in Strasbourg

('Soili Semkina',) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:41:37 -0000

For one week in each month the European parliament travels to Strasbourg to make decisions. The EP microcosmos runs in full speed in its Louise Weiss building. But how does it all really work?

A traveller reads up on the history of nationalism

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:08:00 -0000

'A sudden wave of satisfaction envelops J. He recognises his happiness to have been born this millennium in a peaceful Europe'. This short story, set in a Brussels train station, was runner-up of the 2009 German Youthreporter award, ‘Verliebt in Europa’ (‘In Love With Europe’)

Languages: Dutch amidst French in bilingual Brussels

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:27:21 -0000

On the footpaths of Brussels your ears catch a litany of languages. In this European city, the official status of the bilingualism can be seen everywhere, especially in job advertisements. Is this a question of identity or discrimination in recruitment?

EU election campaign is hypocritical, because there's no choice

('samantha',) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:38:20 -0000

On 17 March the European parliament launched its communication campaign in view of the European elections in June 2009. The German agency which produced it has, for the first time in EU history, used elements taken from concrete politics to encourage participation. Despite this the Italian government has found it non-communicative (and has announced that it is making a new one), without mentioning the fact that it recalls the wave of anti-Roma feeling which has swept through Italy lately

Brussels crisis: be creative, become an entrepeneur

('Sarah Pybus',) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The crisis is confronting young entrepreneurs in Brussels. Whilst some have excellent qualifications, those who don’t have a battle on their hands

Brussels: a city of life-long interns

('rhiannon_nicolson',) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:26:52 -0000

We meet young foreigners in a capital full of multinationals, institutions and the need for multilingual interns

Brussels: did you know that 20% of EU workers work at night?

('Darren Thompson',) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:39:02 -0000

The sun sets on the EU's epicentre. Thousands of workers leave their offices and an army of night time workers take their place. Many are young, and are unaware of the risks that this kind of work can bring. On the other hand, nights are considered to have a different and lively rhythm than the normal working day. We take to the streets to investigate